Steam-line control



E. cHADwxcK STEAM LINE CONTROL Filed July 19. 1923 lll..

Patented lidar. ll, i924.

EMIIIANUEL CHADWICK, OF DETROT, MICHIGAN.

sTEAMiLNE. CONTROL.

Application filed July 19, 1923.

f1.' 'o all fio/tom t may concern:

Be it lrnown that EMuANUEL CHADWICK, a citizen of the United States,residing at Detroit, in the county oit TWayne and State or llichigan,have invented certain new and useful improvements in Steam-LineControls, ot' which the following is a specitication.

This invention relates to an automatic control for steam lines. It isthe object of the invention to atlord a control which may cause theliuid to waste until the live steam passes the point of controlthereupon the wastage is stopped and the live steam is allowed to passthrough the control. Tn dry cleaning establishments, it is customary touse a tumbler in which are contained clothes soalred in gasoline orother inflammable fluids. Very often a spark develops in the tumblingdrum and ignites the vapor of the combustible or explosive fluids; anexplosion results, and the clothes are very often damaged by i'ire. Atthe present time it is customary in some shops to provide anautomatically controlled steam valve. lVhen the explosion occurs, one ofthe doors or caps on the tumbler is blown open, automatically turning onthe steam which is let into the tumbler to snuitn out the lire. Thetrouble with this way of extinguishing the lire, is, that usually thesteam line contains a slug of water, that is, steam` which has condensedin the cold walls of the steam line pipe. This water turned in on theclothes very often ruins them. It is the object of the present inventionto use only live or dry steam to snu out the lire.l This is accomplishedby an automatic control which lirst causes the liuid issuing from thesteam line to waste; when the hot live steam enters the control itautomatically closes the waste and opens the valve leading into thedrum.

Tt will be obvious that my invention is applicable to broader usagesthan those connected with a dry cleaning establishment. In its broadconception, the invention relates to a control for steam lines by whichthe water slug is automatically eliminated. This will more fully appearin the description following.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a fragmentary side elevation ora a dry cleaning tumblerequipped with my automatic control.

Fig. 2 is a section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. l.

Serial N0. 652,656.

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 3-3 of F ig. 2.

The dry cleaning tumbler a is only shown in part as the specicconstruction ofthis is no part of the invention. In the casing isusually provided a lid or cap l) connected with a steam valve o. Thesteam valve c is on the steam line CZ. This is provided with a branchline c which leads into the heating coils contained within the tumblerwhich are not shown as they are no part of the present'invention. Y

When an explosion occurs in the tumbler, the cap is blown open. This,through the linkage, operates the steam valve c and turns on the steamwhich leads through suitable pipe connections directly into the interiorof the tumbler. This is the usual way of extinguishing a fire. However,it will be evident that this being. an unused steam line, except atconsiderable intervals of time, the steam line will collect a water slugdue to the condensation of the steam. After the steam valve c is openedand the fluid is allowed to escape directly into the interior of thetumbler, as has heretofore been done, obviously thev clothes will bedouche-d with water very often ruining line garments that mightotherwise be saved if only live steam were turned into the tumbler.

Ivprevent this waterl slug from entering the tumbler by interposing anautomatic control for eliminating this water slug. This control is shownmore in detail in Figs. 2 and 3. The steam pipe designated d, serves asa conduit for the flow of the steam. The waste valve is normally open,hence when the steam valve o is turned on, the contents of the pipe areforced out through the thermally responsive pipe j, through the valvechamber surrounding the valve f, and out the waste pipe L. The pipe j ishere in the form of a thermostatic brass tube There are two of thesetubes 7' that rit into the coupling or 'l' 7c. On the ends of these twobrass pipes are bolted the rods m. These rods m are connected with theblocks a. These blocks are connected with the vertical rods o. Theserods 0 are connected through the yoke p and coil springs r, with thevalve stem g. Similarly the rods o below the blocks are connected by thesprings r and yolre p with the valve stem g.

Now supposing that an explosion occurs in the tumbler, the cap b isblown off, the valve c is automatically opened, the water slug passesinto the thermostatic-control through the pipes j, and the va-lve fbeing open, wastes out the waste pipe. Within a few seconds when thelive steam reaches the thermostatic control, the -pipes j straighten outthe rods n which are at a slight angle to a straight line position inFig. l. This raises the blocks m, the rods o and o a-nd the connectingmembers, pulling up on the valve stem g and the valve stem g. Thisserves to seat the valve f and open the valve s. The steam now passesthrough the conduit t leading directly into the tumbler. The slug isentirely eliminated by the automatic action of this control.

Ihe hand operated valve u is a cut-olf from the main steam line aroundthe automatically controlled steam valve c. It will be obvious that ifthis hand valve is turned on by the operator for any purpose, such asfilling the tumbler with live steam for cleaning, or deodorization, thatthe automatic control operates in precisely the same way to eliminatethe water slug from the condensing line.

What I claim is:

1. In apparatus for the purpose specilied, the combination of a steamline, a waste line, a service line, means for controlling the flow offluid by automatically closing the Waste line and opening the serviceline when the live steam flows into the control device.

2. In apparatus for the purpose speciied, the combination of a steamline, a steam valve, an automatically and thermally controlled means foreliminating the water slug in the line and wasting the same andnfl-sensi for delivering the livey steam to a place for use.

3. In apparatus for the purpose specified, the combination of a steamline, a waste line connected therewith, a service line connected withthe steam line, a steam valve in the steam line, and an automaticallycon-V trolled set of valves for controlling the waste line to permit thewater slug to waste and for controlling the service line to per mit thelive steam to low through such service line when the water slug has beenWasted.

4. In apparatus for the purpose specified, the Ycombination of a steamline, a steam valve, a pair of thermally responsive pipes connected withthe steam line, conduits leading from the said thermally responsivepipes leading to a place of .use of the live steam and a place forwasting the fluid, and valves connected and controlled by said thermallyresponsive pipes, the valve guarding -the waste opening closed when saidthermally responsive pipes are subjected to the action of heat, and thevalve leading into the place of use opening when the pipes are subjectedto heat.

5. In apparatus tor the purpose specilied, the combination of a steamline, a steam valve for controlling the same, a vessel, pipes leading tothe vessel and connected with said steam line on the side of the steamvalve remote from the steam supply7 and Vmeans controlled by the heat ofthe liquid for first wasting the fluid and then switching the steam intothe conduit leading into the vessel.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

EMMANUEL CHADVVICK.

